Hong Kong Disneyland was unprepared for the Chinese Lunar New Year crowd, admitted the park's top executive Saturday, and apologized for having had to deny entry to visitors.

"We had record sell-out crowds," Bill Ernest, the park's executive vice president and managing director, told a press conference on Saturday.

"Because of the high demand, we were not able to accommodate everyone who came to the park," said Ernest, who had apologized for the same situation through written statements twice in the previous two days.

On Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds of visitors with tickets were denied entry to the venue, which closed its gates soon after opening because it had reached its maximum reception capacity of 30,000 people.

Most of the visitors denied entry had traveled long distances from the mainland to fulfill their Disney dreams. They had planned their trip weeks or months in advance, and had bought half-year tickets.

Being refused entry when the park was full, the tourists grew furious, waving their tickets, arguing with the park staff, and a few scaled up the grills for entrance.

The above images repeatedly broadcast by local cable TV were not "what Disneyland's reputation is built on," said Ernest, while extending his apologies to "those who have been inconvenienced."

Promising reimbursement to people who couldn't get into the park, he reiterated that they are the theme park's first Chinese New Year holidays which end on Saturday in the mainland.

"Every market has unique dynamics that must be taken into consideration and must be learned over time," he said, stressing that the influx of tourists over the Chinese New Year holidays was "unprecedented."

Four months ago, the US$3 billion theme park received a lower number of visitors than expected during the National Day holidays in the first week of October.

Visitor numbers to the park during the Chinese New Year holidays, however, were almost double and were much more than management had expected, Ernest said.

Aiming to earn US$19 billion over 40 years, Hong Kong Disneyland planned to draw 5.6 million visitors in the first year starting from last September. One third of the 5.6 million people are expected to come from the mainland.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2006)